Fantasy Football 2024 Week 12 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice

Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be rostered in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the roster percentages coming from Yahoo.com.

Immediately Useful

Tank Bigsby, RB, Jaguars (47% Rostered): Bigsby appears to be the best RB on the Jaguars, so even though he is currently injured, he is still the premier pickup this week because of his potential value down the stretch of the season. Travis Etienne entered the season as a very lofty draft pick, but Bigsby has simply outplayed him this year. Etienne had the backfield to himself Sunday, and while the Lions were a brutal matchup, Etienne flopped badly with just 27 yards on 12 carries in a mega blowout. Jacksonville’s on bye this week, which will allow for them to fire their head coach and install some things for the rest of the year. If Bigsby’s healthy, he should be expected to lead the charge, and even if it’s a fairly even split he’ll earn the goal line work.

Quentin Johnston, WR, Chargers (41% Rostered): Johnston has been so productive lately, even though starting him is still like playing with fire. He’s scored in three straight games, and scored six touchdowns this season on just 22 receptions. That’s not a stable recipe for success, and his floor is a zero in any given week. But Johnston has an elite QB throwing to him, and that QB, Justin Herbert, is currently playing his best football in a few seasons. Johnston’s role on this team is to amass yards and touchdowns efficiently, on deep targets. Right now, with Herbert running hot, it’s working. He can be plugged in regardless of matchup, but you must be wary that the ride can break down at any time.

Xavier Legette, WR, Panthers (28% Rostered): Legette was on bye in Week 12, so his roster percentage stayed low. He’s a very good player who is being used properly, but is in a low-output offense. Carolina’s looked better of late, but Bryce Young is still just not a prolific QB, and they don’t score many points. Still, Legette is the clear No. 1 option now so he has a reliable base of targets, and the contested catch skills to make big plays and be a primary option in the end zone.

Christian Watson, WR, Packers (44% Rostered): We’re beginning to get some clarity on the Green Bay pecking order, and Watson appears to have become the No. 2 option for Jordan Love. Watson has drawn 17 targets in the last three games, and he put up 150 yards on four catches Sunday vs. a tough Bears D. Watson’s floor is very low, but he has big play potential, has proven he can score TDs in bunches, and is clearly running ahead of Dontayvion Wicks. I think you can play him if you’re searching for ceiling.

Gus Edwards, RB, Chargers (28% Rostered): Edwards looks healthy and strong, and that should lead to some rushing TDs as the year wears on. He’s still well behind J.K. Dobbins, as he earned only 16% of snaps on Sunday night, but the Chargers feed him when he’s on the field. If that’s near the goal line, then expect some scoring.

Ameer Abdullah, RB, Raiders (0% Rostered): Abdullah would be an ugly play for sure, but Alexander Mattison and Zamir White are both banged up leaving him as the only currently healthy RB. It’s a low-ceiling play for sure, but if he were to get a large share of the opportunity, even for a week, he is playable, especially since the majority of his value is derived from pass-catching.

Bo Nix, QB, Broncos (48% Rostered): Nix is hard to trust because of the preseason narrative about what a reach he was for the Broncos, but Sean Payton loved him, and he’s showing why. Nix has three multi-touchdown games in the last four weeks, with nine passing TDs combined in that span. He is averaging almost 260 yards per game in that stretch, and he’s proven to be a willing rusher as well, having put up 25+ rushing yards in six games this year. Of course, in any given week the wheels can come off for a rookie without elite receiving talent around him, but if you’re struggling with a bigger name veteran week after week, Nix might just be a surprising solution to your problems.

Russell Wilson, QB, Steelers (49% Rostered): Wilson face planted for fantasy managers in a week where he was a hot streaming option due to the Ravens’ porous pass defense. There’s risk with Wilson, because he arrives at his production via deep shots and touchdown efficiency. Prior to Sunday’s dud, Wilson had thrown six touchdown passes in in three games, with three of them coming vs. Washington when he passed for only 195 yards. Wilson’s schedule for the next three weeks is enticing – at Cleveland, at Cincinnati, vs. Cleveland – so he can still be a solid play.

Will Dissly, TE, Chargers (23% Rostered): Dissly has become a pretty important cog of the Chargers’ passing game, and even if his yardage most games will be limited, his uptick in target share makes him a playable option. He’s seen 5+ targets in five of his last six games from Herbert, who is cutting through defenses lately like a hot knife through butter. Dissly has put up 80+ yards twice in that six-game span, and he scored his first touchdown Sunday, with more to come if this usage continues. He also has a string of golden matchups coming up – vs. Baltimore, at Atlanta, at Kansas City, vs. Tampa Bay – so I’d be very willing to use him for the push to the postseason.

Hunter Henry, TE, Patriots (45% Rostered): Henry shook off a bad game vs. the Bears and rebounded with six catches and 63 yards against the Rams on Sunday. He’s a player you should pivot off of in bad matchups, but he’s the most steadily targets player in this low-scoring offense, offering you a usable floor in most weeks, with 20-point upside at his best. That’s honestly a pretty solid TE if you can get past using a guy in a generally uninspiring pass attack.

Zach Ertz, TE, Commanders ((33% Rostered): Ertz was his best self vs. Philadelphia Thursday, going for six receptions and 47 yards with a touchdown. The catches and yardage were right where he’s been all season, and what you should expect if  you fire him up. The touchdown is what you hope for since he has Jayden Daniels at QB.

Speculative/Deep Cuts

Ricky Pearsall, WR, 49ers (46% Rostered): Pearsall goosed his managers a week after scoring a long TD and looking like a reasonable replacement for Brandon Aiyuk. Of course, that sucked and will make anyone hesitant to use him again. Jauan Jennings earned heavy usage in this one, and all of the 49ers passing game options see reduced opportunity when Christian McCaffery is healthy, but the bad game doesn’t change Pearsall’s skill set. He will have games where he’s featured and productive, and have games where he takes a back seat. I would continue to use him in deeper leagues, or leagues in which byes and injuries are taking a toll, because despite the risk there’s also big upside in a very explosive offense.

Elijah Moore, WR, Browns (8% Rostered): Moore, unlike Pearsall, has a much more guaranteed share of targets at the moment. While Jameis Winston is a far more volatile QB than Brock Purdy, and the Browns’ offense is much shakier than San Francisco’s, Moore’s seen 6+ targets in four consecutive games. Most of the time, Moore will have middling production even with the good target share, but on Sunday he went for 66 yards and a score. That isn’t the norm, but it’s good to see that potential exists. Moore is a floor play, as he’s very unlikely to goose anyone like Pearsall just did. But the peak we saw on Sunday is probably a fluke.

Rashod Bateman, WR, Ravens (32% Rostered): Bateman is a less consistent version of Quentin Johnston this year, earning deep shots in a good offense and trying to make his hay through efficiency. Bateman’s racked up 531 yards and four scores on 33 receptions this year, with his touchdown grabs being more spaced out than Johnston’s, making the similar production feel worse. Bateman has the disadvantage of multiple receiving options being clearly ahead of him for targets, and the passing game being secondary to Derrick Henry though. He’s a desperation ceiling play, and not someone to rely on even in deep formats.

Alec Pierce, WR, Colts (18% Rostered): Pierce is basically Bateman, but with a much worse QB. Pierce’s third season has been his best, and his skill set matches up with Anthony Richardson’s in that Richardson’s weirdly at his best the further down the field he’s throwing. That’s also a very volatile way to have fantasy success, and Pierce has the ability to torpedo a team in any given week with a zero. You will not find consistency with Pierce, but you will occasionally get a big play and big week.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR, Saints (25% Rostered): MVS has three touchdowns and 196 yards in two weeks since becoming the Saints’ de facto WR1 because of multiple injuries. This is obviously a wildly unsustainable pace, but this is proof of concept that, right now, the deep shot in the Saints offense is fantasy viable. Rashid Shaheed was in the middle of a breakout season running the same routes Valdes-Scantling is currently crushing. Shaheed is a better player than MVS, and he had weeks where the connection was buffering and it made fantasy managers suffer. That’ll happen even more here, but the upside for a huge game is proven now. The Saints are off in Week 12, so MVS should be free. Stash him if you can, because if you’re a fringe team that needs ceiling he fits the bill.

Anthony Richardson, QB, Colts (47% Rostered): Richardson showed on Sunday why he was a coveted player during draft season. Sunday’s explosion isn’t completely instructive since the Jets are a team of moving corpses at this point, but it was the rosy version of Richardson that was actualized. He ran for 32 yards and two touchdowns, while throwing for 272 yards and a score. He hit Josh Downs and Alec Pierce deep on several occasions while also using his huge frame to bully Jets defenders as a rusher. That TD upside on the ground can really hide a LOT of faults. If you roll with Richardson for that ceiling, you’ll need to hide the faults because his schedule is unfriendly. His remaining slate is vs. Detroit, at New England, BYE, at Denver, vs. Tennessee, at Giants. If that was better, he’d be in the Immediately Useful group.

Pure Handcuffs

Tyler Allgeier, RB, Falcons (40% Rostered)

Zach Charbonnet, RB, Seahawks (47% Rostered)

Trey Benson, RB, Cardinals (21% Rostered)

Ray Davis, RB, Bills (20% Rostered)

Cam Akers, RB, Vikings (17% Rostered)

Braelon Allen, RB, Jets (33% Rostered)

Justice Hill, RB, Ravens (18% Rostered)

Roschon Johnson, RB, Bears (7% Rostered)